MUNICH — From touring American universities with a DVD of his highlights to scoring a historic touchdown as a professional, Markus Kuhn paved the way for German players in American football. Now, he’s helping the NFL gain popularity in his home country.
Kuhn felt like a fan whose dream came true a decade ago, when he became the first German to score a touchdown in the NFL. It is for that score that he is best known among the growing NFL audience in Germany.
The touchdown was a surprise to everyone, including Kuhn, who was a defensive tackle with the Giants on Dec. 7, 2014, when he returned a fumble 26 yards against the Tennessee Titans. He thus helped end New York’s seven-game losing streak.
“I played quarterback in Germany at a very different level and scored some touchdowns, but I never dreamed of doing it at that level,” Kuhn told The Associated Press. “Imagine that you are the biggest American football fan of all time and you have dedicated almost your life to the sport up to that point. And suddenly you get to score a touchdown in the NFL. “That’s how I felt.”
A decade later, Kuhn is weighing how next month to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his touchdown in that 36-7 victory over the Titans. For now, he’s busy.
He is an ambassador for the Giants ahead of their first game in Germany on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, works with the NFL on its international expansion and is a familiar face on German television coverage of the league. He has a full agenda.
Everything is very different from Kuhn’s beginnings in American football. He first played at age 15 in the amateur club scene in Germany and came to North Carolina State after touring universities with a DVD showing his best plays in his country.
Explaining his new unpaid status as a student-athlete to his grandmother was complicated.
“She was kind of surprised. He was like, ‘Wait, you’re doing all this, but you’re not getting paid?’ “I didn’t understand that it seems like I’m a professional athlete now, but I’m not making any money.”
Kuhn was selected by the Giants in the seventh round of the draft in 2012 and played four seasons in the league. He made a total of 48 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks and two fumble recoveries in the 39 games that made up his career.
His historic touchdown was the only one he achieved. Kuhn suffered a knee injury in December 2015 and joined the New England Patriots as a free agent for the following season, but did not play again.
Since retiring as a player, Kuhn has promoted the Patriots and Giants franchises as an ambassador, consulted for the NFL players union on international affairs, and worked as an occasional international correspondent for the league.
The arrival of players like Kuhn and Sebastian Vollmer, a Super Bowl winner with the Patriots, helped spread the word in the United States that there was talent and passion for soccer in Germany, and increase the sport’s audience in their home country.
“Some things seem impossible if no one has done them before,” Kuhn said. “But now there are people to look up to, there are stories you can follow, there are certain paths that have been built that definitely make coming to the United States and playing football there much easier.”
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
